Cabinet door construction



June 13, 1967 w. R. DIRK ETAL.

CABINET DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 21, 1965 United States Patent 3,325,237 CABINET DOOR CONSTRUCTION William R. Dirk and Clifford D. Peterson, both of Marshalltown, Iowa, assignors to Lennox Industries Inc., a corporation of Iowa Filed Oct. 21, 1965, Ser. No. 500,429 Claims. (Cl. 312-296) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A furnace door arrangement including a pair of doors closing an access opening, the doors embodying a resilient slant seal and spring means for biasing the doors into rattle-free engagement with one another.

This invention relates to cabinet construction and more particularly to an improved door construction for a furnace cabinet.

In one commercial type of furnace cabinet means for the access opening to the interior of the furnace cabinet is comprised of first and second planar closure door panels having side flanges engageable in guide recesses at each side of the cabinet opening. The lower door panel has provided at the lower edge thereof a perpendicularly extending flange which is adapted to engage with the cabinet means. The top of the lower door panel and the bottom of the upper door panel are each provided with perpendicularly extending flanges which engage one another when the door panels are in postion closing the access opening. At the top of the upper door panel are provided hook means which cooperate with openings in the furnace cabinet to secure the upper door panel in place in the access opening. Such door panels are subject to movement wth respect to one another when the blower within the furnace cabinet cycles on and off during operation. Such movement of one door panel with respect to the other or of each door panel with respect to the cabinet will result in rattles and noise. Sometimes the door panels have been relatively diflicult to remove in order to provide access to the interior of the furnace cabinet for repair and maintenance purposes.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved door construction for a furnace cabinet wherein the noise resulting from movement between the two closure members or between each closure member and the cabinet is obviated.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved door construction for a furnace cabinet which includes a slant seal means between the closure members and the cabinet and between each of the closure members.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved door construction embodying slant seal means between doors closingthe access opening and between the doors and the cabinet, such door construction including spring means for biasing the closure members into rattle-free engagement with one another and with the cabinet means, while permitting ready removal of the closure members from the cabinet to permit access to the interior of the cabinet for desired repair and maintenance of the furnace components. Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be made more apparent hereinafter.

The specific details of the invention and their mode of functioning will be made most manifest in clear, concise and exact terms in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a furnace cabinet embodying the present invention;

3,325,237 Patented June 13, 1967 furnace cabinet;

FIG. 3 is a detail perspective view illustrating the slant seal means of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a detail perspective view illustrating the slant seal means of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is -a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken generally along the line 5-5 of FIG. 2 and illustrating the cooperation between a flange on a closure door panel and the guide means defined on the cabinet; and FIG. 6 is a fragmentary detail view taken generally along the line 6-6 of FIG. 5 and illustrating further the cooperation between a flange on a closure door panel and the guide means on the cabinet.

Referring now to FIG. 1 there is illustrated a furnace cabinet 10 embodying the present invention. The furnace I cabinet comprises a box-like housing having side walls 12, a bottom wall 14 and a top wall 16. The cabinet is provided with the usual inlet opening (not shown) for receiving return air from the room to be treated and an outlet opening 18 through which treated air may be forwarded to the room to be conditioned. A flue gas opening 20 may be provided in the top wall 16 to permit the carrying off of combustion gases to the atmosphere through a suitable conduit.

Provided within the cabinet 10 is an. access opening 22 that is adapted to be closed by a pair of closure members or door panels 24 and 26 disposed in vertical alignment one above the other in the access opening 22. The upper door panel 24 provides access to the furnace controls and the lower door panels provides access to the blower normally contained within the blower compartment in the lower portion of the upright furnace cabinet illustrated.

There is defined within the upper door panel 24 an opening 28 that is closed by a suitable grille work indi cated generally at 30. The opening 28 provides a relief opening for the flue in the event of a back draft. The opening 32 defined by the inwardly extending flanges 32a and 32b functions as handle means to permit removal of the upper panel member 24 from the access opening 22. Further, air may enter the interior of the furnace cabinet through opening 32 to affect proper combustion of the natural gas or oil or like fuel being utilized 'by the burner within the furnace cabinet 10.

Referring now to FIG. 2 it is seen that slant seal means i 34 and 34' are provided between the door panels 24 and 26 and between the door panel 26 and the cabinet 10. The housing of cabinet 10 includes an angle member 36 which extends across the front thereof and defines the lower part of the access opening 22. Extending downwardly and inwardly from the angle member 36 at an acute angle is a flange 38. Depending downwardly and inwardly from the lower edge of the door panel 26 at an obtuse angle to the plane of the door panel 26 is a flange 40 which is generally complementary to and co-extensive with the length of the flange 38. Provided between the two flanges 38 and 40 is a resilient gasket 39 which may be formed from a flexible polyurethane foam or like resilient material and may be suitably aflixed to one of the flanges as, for example, by means of an adhesive.

The slant seal means 34' is essentially the same in structure as the slant seal means 34. Downwardly and inwardly extending flange 41 on the top of the door panel 26 cooperates with a structural angle member 44 provided within the cabinet means and extending transverse t of the cabinet means for supporting door panel 26 in place in the access opening 22. The flange 41 cooperates with a downwardly and inwardly extending flange 42 on the lower edge of the upper door panel 24. Resilient gasket means 39 are provided between the flanges 41 and 42. Also a relatively thin resilient gasket 39" is provided between flanges 41 and 45.

The closure members or door panels 24 and 26 are biased into rattle free engagement with one' another and with the cabinet by means of spring means 46 disposed between the top and the door panel 24. Preferably, two spaced springs are provided-each being afiixed at one end to the flange means 49 on door panel 24.

In use, it will be understood that the lower panel 26 is positioned in the access opening 22 with the flange 41 engaged over the flange 45 on the structural member 44. The slant seal means 34 are defined by the closely spaced flanges 38 and 40 and the resilient gasket seal 39 disposed therebet-ween. The upper door panel 24 is inserted with the upper edge compressing the spring means 46 and the door panel 24 is positioned in substantial vertical alignment with the door panel 26. When the door panel is released, the spring means 46 will bias the upper door panel downwardly until the flanges 41 and 42 are spaced closely adjacent one another and the gasket 39 is compressed so as to maintain the door panels in snug rattle-free relationship with respect to one another.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4 there is illustrated detail perspective views of the slant seal means 34. In the illustrated form of the invention, the resilient gasket 39 is bonded to the flange 40. Also, it is noted that there are perpendicularly extending flanges 26a formed to each side of the door panel 26. Similarly there are perpendicularly and inwardly extending flanges 36a formed on the angle member 36. Thus, it is apparent that the structural members may be readily fabricated from a thin sheet of material as for example sheet steel. The corners are notched and then flanges are formed on the respective components of the cabinet 10 and the door panels 24 and 26.

Turning now to FIGS. 5 and 6, though only one flange is shown on the door panel 24, it will be understood that flanges are disposed at each side of the door panel 24. The door panel 26 is similarly joined with side flanges 26a. The inwardly and perpendicularly extending flanges 24a and 26a disposed at each side of the upper and lower door panels 24 and 26 are adapted to cooperate with guide means 48 formed in the sides 12 of the cabinet to facilitate positioning of the upper and lower door panels 24 and 26 in the access opening 22. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the guide means 48 comprise a recess defined by suitbly bending or otherwise forming the end of each side wall 12 which defines a side of access opening 22. Each side wall 12, as best seen in FIG. 5, may be bent at right angles to the plane thereof as indicated at 12a, and then may be bent to a U-shape as indicated at 12b to define the recess for receiving the flange 24a at each side of the panel 24. It -will be understood that guide means 48 are provided at each side of the access opening 22 and may extend substantially along the entire height of the cabinet from the top to the bottom. If desired, the guide means 48 may be shorter in length. It is necessary that they be sufficiently long at each side of the access opening 22 to engage with and laterally position the upper and lower door panels 24 and 26 in the access opening 22.

To remove the closure door panels 24 and 26 to permit entry to the interior of the cabinet 10 for repair and maintenance of the components therein, the user may insert his hand through the opening 32 and raise the door panel 24 to compress the spring means 46. The flange 42 will be raised clear from the flange 41. Then the lower end of the upper door panel 24 may be tilted outwardly from the cabinet and the panel 24 may be removed from the cabinet. The operator can then clean the controls or make. the necessary adjustments to the gas burner or the like. in the event access is desired to the blower or to the filter which are generally housed in the blower compartment All in the lower portion of the cabinet 10- the operator may grip the door 26 and raise the flange 41 from engagement with the flange 45. The door 26 may then be removed rearwardly from the access opening 22.

To close the access opening 22, the door 26 is first placed in position by supporting the door such that the side flanges 26a are engaged with the guide recesses 48 at each side of the cabinet and with the flange 41 positioned over the flange 45 in the cabinet 10. The gasket 39 seals between flanges 41 and 45 and minimizes relative movement and noise between said flanges. When the door flange 41 is lowered onto cabinet flange 45, the slant seal means 34 engage to seal between the bottom of door 26 and structural angle member 36 of cabinet 10. Then the upper end of the upper door 24 is inserted into the access opening so as to compress the spring means 46. The side flanges 24a on the door panel 24 are engaged with the guide means 48 at each side of the access opening 22. The lower portion of the door panel is then positioned closely adjacent the top edge of the lower door panel 26 and upon release of the upper door panel 24 the spring means 46 will bias the upper door panel downwardly into sea-ling engagement with the top edge of the lower door panel 26.

The downward force exerted by the spring means 46 will be transmitted through the lower door panel 26 to bias the flange 40 toward the flange 38 so as to compress the seal 39. Thus the seals 39, 39, and 39 will be under compression when the doors 24 and 26 are in position closing the access opening. By the present invention the door panels are kept from rattling and noise is kept at a minimum. Further the doors may be readily removed from the cabinet when necessary.

The present invention may be utilized in furnace cabinets other than the up-flow upright cabinet illustrated. For example, in a down-flow upright cabinet the upper and lower door panels would be interchanged. The spring means would be on the lower door panel which engages with the bottom of the cabinet. Slant seal means would be provided between the door panels and between the top of the cabinet and the top edge of the upper door panel. The invention can also be utilized in horizontally disposed furnace cabinets, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

While we have described a preferred embodiment of our invention, it will be understood that our invention is not limited thereto since it may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A door construction for furnace cabinet means having an access opening in one side thereof comprising an elongated door panel means for closing said opening, said access opening being defined along one edge thereof by a flange extending inwardly at an acute angle with respect to said cabinet means, .said door panel having a flange along the one edge thereof extending inwardly at an obtus angle with respect to the plane of the door panel, resilient gasket means aflixed to one of said flanges in position to be engaged by the other of said flanges when the door panel is positioned so as to close said cabinet opening, said flanges and said resilient gasket means cooperating to define a slant seal, and spring means for biasing said door panel so as to firmly seal the door panel within the access opening.

2. A door construction for furnace cabinet means having an access opening in one side thereof comprising an elongated door panel means for closing said opening, said access opening being defined along one edge thereof by a flange extending inwardly at an acute angle with respect to said cabinet means, said door panel having a flange along the one edge thereof extending inwardly at an obtuse angle with respect to the plane of the door panel, resilient gasket means aflixed to one of said flanges in position to be engaged by the other of said flanges when the door panel is positioned so as to close said cabinet opening, said flanges and said resilient gasket means cooperating to define a slant seal, said door panel including inwardly turned flanges at the sides thereof and said cabinet means including guide means for cooperating with said inwardly turned flanges on the door panel to position the door panel at a proper attitude within the access opening.

3. A door construction for furnace cabinet means having an access opening in one side thereof comprising an elongated door panel means for closing said opening, said access opening being defined along one edge thereof by a flange extending inwardly at an acute angle with respect to said cabinet means, said door panel having a flange along the one edge thereof extending inwardly at an obtuse angle with respect to the plane of the door panel, resilient gasket means aflixed to one of said flanges in position to be engaged by the other of said flanges when the door panel is positioned so as to close said cabinet opening, said flanges and said resilient gasket means cooperating to define a slant seal, a second door panel for closing said access opening, said second door panel being positioned in alignment with the first door panel, said second door panel having a flange on an edge thereof extending inwardly at an obtuse angle with respect to the plane of said second door panel, said first door panel having a flange extending inwardly at an acute angle on the edge thereof opposite said one edge, said flanges being disposed adjacent one another, resilient gasket means between said adjacent flanges, and spring means disposed between said cabinet means and said second door panel for biasing the door panels into rattle-free engagement with one another and with the cabinet means.

4. A door construction as in claim 3 wherein each door panel includes inwardly turned flanges extending at substantially right angles from the sides thereof and said cabinet means includes guide means for coperating with said inwardly turned flanges on said door panels to position the door panels at the proper aligned attitude within the access opening.

5. A door construction for a cabinet means having an access opening in one side thereof comprising a first elongated door panel means for closing a portion of said opening, said access opening being defined along one edge thereof by a flange extending inwardly at an acute angle with respect to said cabinet means, said first door panel having a flange along the one edge thereof extending inwardly at an obtuse angle with respect to the plane of said door panel, resilient gasket means afiixed to one of said flanges in position to be engaged by the other of said flanges when said first door panel is positioned so as to close said cabinet opening, said flanges and said resilient gasket means cooperating to define a slant seal, an inwardly extending flange on the opposed edge of said first door panel, an inwardly extending flange on said cabinet cooperating with said flange on the opposed edge of said first door panel, a second door panel for closing the remaining portion of said access opening, said second door panel being adapted to be positioned in alignment with and in the plane of said first door panel, said second door panel having a flange on an edge thereof extending inwardly at an obtuse angle with respect to the plane of said second door panel, said first door panel flange on the opposed edge thereof extending inwardly at an acute angle, second door panel flange and said first door panel flange \being disposed adjacent one another, resilient gasket means between said adjacent flanges, each door panel including inwardly turned flanges extending at substantially right angles from the sides thereof and said cabinet means including guide means for cooperating with said inwardly turned flanges on said door panels to position the door panels at the proper aligned attitude within the access opening, and spring means disposed between said cabinet means and said second door panel for biasing the door panels into rattle-free engagement with one another and with the cabinet means.

References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS 935,686 9/1963 Great Britain.

JOHN PETO, Primary Examiner.

F DOMOTOR, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR FURNANCE CABINET MEANS HAVING AN ACCESS OPENING IN ONE SIDE THEREOF COMPRISING AN ELONGATED DOOR PANEL MEANS FOR CLOSING SAID OPENING, SAID ACCESS OPENING BEING DEFINED ALONG ONE EDGE THEREOF BY A FLANGE EXTENDING INWARDLY AT AN ACUTE ANGLE WITH RESPECT TO SAID CABINET MEANS, SAID DOOR PANEL HAVING A FLANGE ALONG THE ONE EDGE THEREOF EXTENDING INWARDLY AT AN OBTUS ANGLE WITH RESPECT TO THE PLANE OF THE DOOR PANEL, RESILIENT GASKET MEANS AFFIXED TO ONE OF SAID FLANGES IN POSITION TO BE ENGAGED BY THE OTHER OF SAID FLANGES WHEN THE DOOR PANEL IS POSITIONED SO AS TO CLOSE SAID CABINET OPENING, SAID FLANGES AND SAID RESILIENT GASKET MEANS COOPERATING TO DEFINE A SLANT SEAL, AND SPRING MEANS FOR BIASING SAID DOOR PANEL SO AS TO FIRMLY SEAL THE DOOR PANEL WITHIN THE ACCESS OPENING. 